Now that the Navy Master has spoken, Grumman's traditional fuselage landing gear can't be used.

In its place, there is an improved wide-track landing gear.

This allows the fighter to be equipped with a larger diameter propeller.

However, the mid-wing structure of the "Wildcat" fighter has also been transformed into a completely new low-wing structure.

In order to allow the pilot to have a better forward and downward visibility.

The cockpit was placed above the wings, and the nose part also became sloping.

In January 1941, after the Navy visited the model aircraft of the "F6F-1", it made some more requests.

The fuselage length increased by 26 inches, and the wing area increased from 290 square feet to 334 square feet.

This change allows for more fuel, ammo, and thicker armor.

By this time, the "G-50" prototype had become completely similar to the original design.

On June 19, 1941, the Citi Navy ordered two prototypes from Grumman, which were equipped with Wright R-2600-10 engines.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy placed an order for another 1,080 aircraft.

On June 26 of the following year, the "XF6F-1" made its maiden flight.

But the engineers found that the specifications of the prototype did not meet the requirements of the Navy.

While changing the design, they explored replacing the Wright R-2600-10 with a more powerful engine.

Eventually, the engineers came up with a design that would allow the XF6F-1 to assemble a larger 18-cylinder R2800 engine if necessary.

Sure enough, based on the experience of the first months of the war in the Pacific, the Navy believed that the future fighter would have to be equipped with a more powerful engine.

Grumman then equipped the R-2800-10 engine and Curtiss Electric's propellers on a second prototype, the "XF6F-3." ”

After the first flight, both the Citi Navy and Grumman knew they had a powerful weapon.

At this time, the Citi Navy received another generous gift.

That is, in the military blind circle, the most talked about "Koga Zero Battle." ”

On June 3, 1942, Tadayoshi Koga of the Wakuni Naval Air Force flew to Cao and was working hard in his own "Zero War".

Just now, the "Zero Battle" he piloted was in the sky over the Holland port and was hit by ground anti-aircraft fire.

Although the plane did not turn into a fireball, the severely damaged pipes did not have much time left for Tadashi Koga.

He immediately flew towards Akutan Island, where an emergency landing site was predetermined.

As long as it lands safely and burns the fighter jet, Koga's mission is completed, and all that remains is to wait for the submarine to rescue.

But he didn't expect that the meadow he chose to land on was actually a swamp.

The plane's landing gear immediately sank into the mud and then crashed upside down on the ground, breaking Koga's neck with the force of the impact.

Originally, this Zero General decomposed along with the corpse inside.

But a little more than a month later, it was spotted by a yaw "PBY" seaplane.

The crew made a few circles in the sky and realized that they had found something important when they noticed the red plaster on the wings.

A few weeks later, Citi Navy personnel arrived on Akutan Island and left the "Zero." ”

On September 20 of that year, the Zero Combat that had been brought back to Citi was restored to flyable condition.

Over the next month, performance tests were conducted.

By the time the test flight report came out, it was already October 23.

And Grumman's "F6F-3" production version made its first flight as early as 20 days ago.

At this time, the Navy was having a headache with the problems of carrier-based fighters.

Although in the battles at Midway and in the series that followed, the naval aviation of the Wa Kingdom suffered huge losses.

But the "Zero Battle" they drove is still an opponent that cannot be ignored, especially under the control of veterans, it is even more of a sharp blade.

If you want to deal with them, you must have an overwhelming advantage.

But there are only two kinds of carrier-based fighters in the hands of the navy, and the "Wildcat" is not to mention that if it does not adopt appropriate tactics, it is not an opponent of the "Zero Battle" at all.

The performance of the "Corsair" fighter was quite outstanding, but the performance of the landing ship was not satisfactory, and it generally collided.

The same is true for large aircraft carriers, and if they are used on the smaller "Essex" class and the smaller "Independence" class aircraft carriers, I am afraid that more aircraft will be damaged in accidents than the Japanese will be shot down.

The navy lords could only grit their teeth, pack the "pirates" and give them to the "fourth-class" marines, and continue to use the "wildcats" themselves. ”

The emergence of the "F6F-3" finally solved the long-standing problem of carrier-based aircraft.

Not to mention anything else, the landing performance alone is of great significance.

After all, the naval aviation at this time was expanding dramatically.

For those rookies who are not fully trained, what is more important than landing safely.

On August 31, 1943, "F6F-3" took part in the first battle.

Aircraft of the 5th Fighter Squadron, taking off from the aircraft carrier "Yorktown", covered the group to attack the Marcus Islands occupied by the Japanese army.

On December 4 of the same year, the group of "shrews" fought their first air battle.

91 "F6F-3" fighters attacked 50 "Zero. ”

In the case of the loss of 2 aircraft, 28 of the opposing side were shot down, and the exchange ratio reached 19: 1.

The result of this air battle indicates that the Citi Navy finally has more fighters than the "Zero Battle".

From now on, they no longer have to worry about escort and air defense.

The navy master immediately placed an order, and the domestic factories also worked hard to produce.

By mid-1944, even the fighters on fast aircraft carriers and some escort carriers were replaced with "F6F-3." ”

And at this time, a big war came unexpectedly.

On June 15, 1944, Vice Admiral Toyoda, the new commander of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy, issued an order for the decisive battle of the "A" battle plan.

He ordered Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa to "attack the enemy in the waters of the Mariana Islands and annihilate the Hana Flagship." ”

Five minutes later, he sent a second telegram repeating Togo Heihachiro's famous words at the Battle of Tsushima:

"The rise and fall of the imperial kingdom is in this battle, and our generals and soldiers must fight with all their might."

The words are high-sounding, and the orders are also written murderously.

But this Toyota deputy military general is a little inexperienced.

Within the Wakoku Navy, this was a well-known fleet faction that disagreed with the opinions of his predecessor, Admiral Yamamoto Isorochi.

For this reason, Yamamoto Isoroku also said the words "This person must not be used".

However, after the deaths of Yamamoto Isoroku and Koga Mine, the naval tycoon Mitsumasa Yonechi immediately recommended Vice Takeshi Toyoda to be the commander of the Combined Fleet.

However, Toyota's vice president was not happy.

Because, after Yamamoto fifty-six died, it was his turn to take over the handsome seal, but the appointment was rejected by the naval boss Fushimi Miyahiro Gong.

Now that the war is like this, if you want Lao Tzu to take the blame, of course it is impossible.

Deputy Toyoda immediately recommended Nagumo Tadaichi, if it weren't for this calf hitting Midway, it would be the army's turn to fire artillery to celebrate.

But no, Nagumo Zhongyi is the 36th phase of the Naval Academy, and his qualifications are not enough.

Even Koga's appointment as commander of the Combined Fleet was a kind of arrogance, as he was one year lower than Toyoda's vice-president.

The matter has been decided, and Deputy Wu of Toyota no longer wants to do it, so he can only sit on that chair.

However, on his first day in office, he did a big thing.